Brussels, 07/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - A total of 16 countries, including European countries and the EU, meeting in Istanbul on Wednesday 6 June, decided to create a coordination group to support the Syrian opposition. The group will meet for the first time, with all the Syrian opposition and representatives of these countries and the EU in Istanbul on 15-16 June, the Turkish foreign minister said.
On Thursday 6 June, UN Special Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan acknowledged the failure of his plan “which was not applied”. He was expected to propose setting up a “contact group”, bringing together global powers and major regional players in an attempt to find a strategy that is acceptable to Russia and China to bring an end to the conflict. On Wednesday, France, the United Kingdom and the United States said they were against Iran's participation in an international conference on Syria (while Russia wants it to be present).
France has announced that the meeting of the Friends of Syria “in which the Syrian opposition will have a place”, will take place in Paris on 6 July, “given the deterioration in the situation”, said the Foreign Ministry.
On Thursday, British Prime Minister David Cameron called on the international community to increase its efforts to isolate the regime, following the new massacre in the Hama region which claimed the lives of some 50 people. If the information that has been received is correct, this is another brutal and sickening attack and the international community absolutely must condemn the regime and President Assad for what has been done, Cameron said. MEP Edward McMillan-Scott (ALDE, UK) also condemned the massacre, wondering “how many more deaths are needed before action is taken”. The previous day, Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said that “the strategy being followed by Damascus could lead to genocide if there is no rapid intervention”. (GC/transl.rt)